How Breakfast Can Make or Break Your Day

Do you plan to make a healthy breakfast, but…

Don’t have time in the morning?

End up having food go bad because you didn’t use it?

Don’t have the energy to cook in the am?

Yup, if you got up Monday morning and only had a granola bar to eat, you’ve failed to change your life and started the week off on the wrong foot.

Ouch.

But think about it. Imagine how many times you’ve gotten up, and realized you aren’t going to be making a healthy breakfast AGAIN. You’ve punched yourself in the emotional stomach. Life- 1, You- 0. You pull on your pants and notice they’re getting a little tighter. Life- 2, You- 0. Your child/spouse informs you they won’t be home for dinner tonight, and you’ll be spending the evening along. Life- 3, You- 0. Ugh.

It’s amazing how that regret, guilt, procrastination, and perfectionism can really snowball quickly.

Instead, let’s make a plan to give yourself an emotional boost at the beginning of the day. You’ll be set up to have a positive outlook, which can help you make better food choices and be nicer to yourself, your family, and the world.

On the weekend or your day off during the week, you’ll head to the grocery to pick up items for breakfast for the week. I’m going to include two recipes below to try. If you are looking for a low-carb option, there are instructions for an egg/veggie bake. If you want something more standard-American-fare, I have a recipe for banana-peanut butter-oat muffins. The muffins are dairy and wheat-free. Either choice is better than something out of a wrapper or drive-thru.

After your breakfast is prepared, you’ll place a portion into containers for the work/school week. Each morning, all you have to do is heat and eat! You’re making your very own convenience meals.

Give this a try next week, and see how you feel. I am sure that your stomach and your self-esteem will thank you!

15 eggs, 1/2 lb breakfast meat, 3-4 cups cooked veggies*

Cook the breakfast meat and place in a 9×13 pan.
Cook the veggies in the oil from the meat until tender. Place in 9 x 13 pan.
Beat eggs and pour over meat and veggies. Mix lightly with a large spoon.
Bake casserole at 300-350 degree F for 45 minutes or more. The lower the oven temp, the less spongy the casserole will be.
Cut into 8 servings and put into microwave-safe containers. Serve with half an avocado for good fat.

Nutritional information: Serving size = 1/8 of a pan, and has 250 calories, 5 grams of carbs, 18 grams of protein, and 17 grams of fat

Banana Peanut Butter Oat Muffins

My kids needed a portable breakfast, and I really don’t like to buy cereal or other processed foods for them. That was the inspiration for these muffins. I’m really proud of this recipe- it’s developed from my mom’s banana bread recipe.

I wanted a recipe that was wheat and dairy-free and had some protein in it. First, I substituted whole oats for the all-purpose flour, which produced a very chunky, chewy, and crumbly muffin. To make the texture more wheat-like, I put oats through a blender to make oat flour. Then I used a combination of the oat flour and whole or quick oats to make a slightly interesting texture.

I replaced the butter in the original recipe with an equal amount of peanut butter. That was way too peanut buttery! So, I decided to use half peanut butter and half olive oil. This is perfect- slight peanut butter flavor, and no olive flavor.

I plan to experiment with using less sugar as well. If you want to give it a try, decrease the sugar by a small amount, because the less sugar you use, the less the muffins will stick together. Besides being a delicious breakfast, you can use this as a post-workout snack, as it is close to the recommended 3:1 ratio of carbs to protein.

2 bananas, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar (or less), 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup oat flour**, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda

Mash bananas in a bowl.
Add oil, peanut butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla, and mix well.
Add dry ingredients and mix.
Pour batter into 12 muffin tins- use a scant 1/3 cup to measure.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 18-22 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.
Two muffins make a good serving, eat with a portion of fruit.
**Oat flour is made by placing whole or quick oats in a blender or food processor. Process until oats turn into a fine powder.

Nutritional information: One muffin has 214 calories, 28 grams of carbs, 6 grams of protein, and 10 grams of fat

Do you have a great breakfast recipe to share? Or a success story where planning meals got you back on the wagon? Please share your comments below: